Anthony LeBlanc Archives - Chicago Reader

Pictured are side-by-side headshots of two Black women, both leaders of theater companies in Chicago. On the left is Charlique Rolle of Congo Square. She is wearing black, and is seated with her hands clasped in her lap. She is smiling. On the right is Myesha-Tiara of Perceptions Theatre. She is wearing an orange top.

The strength of community

by Sheri Flanders January 25, 2023January 27, 2023

At the end of September 2020, I wrote a piece for the Reader titled “Black artistic leaders take charge at several Chicago theaters,” which framed the influx of new (and preexisting) Black leadership in Chicago theater against the backdrop of a historic disruption in the industry. That disruption was powered in part by COVID-19 leading […]

The stage of UP Comedy Club at Second City

Second City finds a buyer and its instructors form a union

by Kerry Reid February 19, 2021August 18, 2021

Private equity firm ZMC acquires the comedy institution, while AICE advocates for representation.

Changes in faces, closing up spaces, and an abolitionist playwright gets more recognition

by Kerry Reid December 4, 2020August 18, 2021

A departure at PrideArts, an arrival at Second City, and the closing of the Frontier and Understudy; Kristiana Rae Colón wins a new prize.

Second City is looking for a buyer

by Deanna Isaacs October 6, 2020August 18, 2021

The comedy powerhouse is up for sale for only the second time in its 60-year history.

The conversation breaks down in Second City’s The Winner . . . of Our Discontent

by Tony Adler December 14, 2016August 18, 2021

A poor casting choice damages the theater’s new main-stage revue.

Second City E.T.C. brings us the happiest measles outbreak on earth

by Zac Thompson April 22, 2015August 18, 2021

The Second E.T.C. revue Soul Brother, Where Art Thou? has plenty of poignance and pointed commentary to go with the yuks.